Saturday, August 7, 2021

Winner & Highlights of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Road America 120

Welcome, to one of the finest, oldest, most historic road courses in the United States.  Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, an icon of motor racing’s past, present, and future.  Today, this 4-mile ribbon of asphalt is to be tackled by the GT4 and TCR production-based sports cars of IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge Championship.  This race marks the seventh of ten races for Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2021.  A field of 37 automobiles lines up ready to tackle this legendary circuit.  Originally, the racing started here on the streets in the 1950s in Elkhart Lake, and it is raining now.  It is falling for now so everyone will be out there on wets.  Turner Motorsports and the #95 car of Dillon Machavern and Bill Auberlen have a tie with the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche Cayman of Trent Hindman and Jan Heylen.  Those are the points in Grand Sport.  Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler have a massive lead in points in TCR right now.

Two hours is the duration of this event.  We are missing the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R of Frank DePew and Robin Liddell.  So, 36 cars are going to start and now we see the #61 Road Shagger Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR in the pit lane.  Tricky conditions out there.  That’s for sure.  We have a 65% chance of thunderstorms.  The front wheel drive cars might have a slight advantage on this damp road.  We are going to find out soon enough.  It is soaking out there as the cars run behind the safety car.  The humidity is at 90% but the temperature is only in the 70’s Fahrenheit.  So, here we go then.  It is getting to be that time where we will be racing.

Safety car into the pit lane and standy by for action.  Here we go!  Into the lead goes the #95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4.  The battle for second is close too as we get a start from TCR as well and a challenge for the lead.  Ryan Norman is the TCR polesitter but already into turn five, a challenge for the lead of the motor race by the #4 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 of Russell Ward is pushing, hard.  He started fourth and is already scrapping for the lead as things get scruffy in the middle of the Grand Sport pack.  Down the hill through The Carousel.  Russell Ward is monstering Dillon Machavern and here comes Patrick Gallagher making a move into Canada Corner!

That is the #23 Notlad Racing by RS1 Aston Martin.  This is a voyage of discovery for sure.  Lap one done and dusted.  Cars on rain tires have been told to use their red flashing rain lights.  Makes perfect sense.  Everyone has their headlights on and most of them are on the Michelin Pilot rain tires.  Brian Henderson in the #84 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic TCR moves past the #17 JDC-Miller Motorsports AudI RS3 of Chris Miller as the #93 Audi R8 spins and crunches the wall.  A spot of bother there for Mark Siegel.  He is limping back to the pit lane.

Spinning, and crunch!  Mark Sigel is regular driver Nolan Siegel’s father.  So he is stuck in the mud here for now and will have to have the course workers snatch him and get him going again.  Patrick Gallagher up to second ahead of Russell Ward.  All top four cars are front engine and rear wheel driver followed by Ryan Hardwick in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche Cayman and we have our first Full Course Yellow.  There has been contact.  Yellow flags early doors won’t benefit drivers except for fuel saving mode.  That’s pretty much all.  Again, we are just circulating behind the safety car as there is now a mist hanging in the moraine here at Road America which will likely make it more difficult for the drivers to see.

 The rain is easing up, but there is a false sense of security.  We have more rain systems coming.  It is darker in Canada Corner.  Good news, no lightning.  Bad news, we are going to have a wet race here in Michelin Pilot Challenge, and we are going to have more rain still to come.  Dillon Machavern continues as your race leader.  There’s more damage to the CarBahn Audi than we first saw, and it seems to be stuck on the damp grass.  Next year, in 2022, there is a Bronze Cup championship to acknowledge a Bronze Cup driver’s championship.  We have had a Bronze Cup in Prototype Challenge before.  Ryan Hardwick and Alan Brynjolfsson are Bronze rated. 

As long as you have one Bronze rated driver on your team, you can compete for the championship.  People enjoy racing for trophies and want their racing efforts to be recognized.  Great idea.  Absolutely lovely.  Only Silver and Bronze rated drivers are allowed to run in Michelin Pilot Challenge.  No Gold or Platinum rated drivers are allowed in the championship.  Ryan Norman leads TCR over Brian Henderson.  Hyundai vs. Honda vs. Audi.  Harry Gottsacker starts the sister Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra followed by two Hyundai Veloster’s. 

We have more action tomorrow with the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and you will read about it here on Endurance… The Sports Car Racing Blog, as well.  The safety car lights are out.  Dillon Machavern takes control of the field.  Patrick Gallagher will be right on his six.  Here’s the restart.  Machavern leads over Gallagher and here comes Russell Ward.  Gallagher wants to dispatch of Russell Ward.  Ward is filling his mirrors and here comes Gallagher and Ward wants it through the moraine sweep.  Ward knows discretion is the better part of valor.  Ward wants the spot into turn six as we can see more power available and more fuel capacity for Hugh Plumb to push sharing with Matt Plumb, the two brothers.

Grand Sport cars could go 45-50 minutes on gas and Machavern is loose into The Carousel and here comes Gallagher for the lead pf the motor race!  Yikes!  Save the car and then go for the place.  Ward wants it and wants it bad.  So many of these teams are still in the championship hunt.  Be smart.  Be reasonable.  Stevan McAleer and Patrick Gallagher are not in championship contention, but they only care about race wins.  That is what they want.  Machavern decides discretion is the better part of valor.  Machavern had to pinch the car before he could have lost control.

Gallagher and McAleer have won and then finished second.  Ryan Norman leading TCR over Brian Henderson who is right on his tail.  They have split some of the other Grand Sport cars that have much more horsepower but the TCR cars have cornering grip.  The Grand Sport cars are beasts.  Henderson in the middle of the road and Norman on the traditional line as Chris Miller and his team have found reliability on that Audi.  They’ve had power steering and fuel pump problems in some of the most recent races.  TCR leaders move past Ted Giovanis in the #64 TGM Camaro GT4.R.  So, the racing action here at Road America is hot and heavy already with just over 20 minutes elapsed. 

More battles emerging in GS between the sister Turner Motorsports BMW, the PF Racing Mustang, the Murillo Racing Mercedes, and more.  Quite the variety of automobiles in Pilot Challenge between the Grand Sport and TCR cars even though the TCR machines are very similar to each other with 4 cylinder turbo engines of two liters in displacement with about 300 brake horsepower and front wheel drive.  The GT4 cars have a wide variety of engine cnfigurations and are rear wheel drive for the most part.  Whoa!  There’s a pass going into turn five as the #11 FCP Euro Mercedes AMG GT4 is trying to pass the #46 TGM Chevrolet Camaro and Hugh Plumb spins in turn five.

They have not had the season they’ve wanted in 2021.  There will likely be a yellow today and it was the squeeze play as Michael Hurczyn established his line in the #11 FCP Euro Mercedes AMG GT4.  The #46 Camaro team wants to keep their noses clean.  But now they will have to dig and really go for it.  Any way you slice it, if they get a Full Course Yellow, they will be able to move in and get the job done.  It’s greasy and the car gets misted up in this rain with the windscreen.  But it is really a feel for where your competitor is when they are right on your six.

Every driver wishes it would rain which means that it is drying, but on a dry track, the Michelin rain tires are going to start to chunk.  Put slick tires on soon, but there’s more rain coming.  You are stuck in a hole.  Keep pushing as we watch Sheena Monk in the #3 McLaren 570S GT4 for Motorsports In Action.  The Carousel and The Kink are dry, but there is more dampness in Canada Corner up the hill to the front straightaway.  This team had to retire from the most recent race at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut.  Robin Liddell says that the #71 Rebel Rock Camaro has not been in the race today, and the reason for that is that there was a driveline vibration and cracks in the chassis of the car.

They welded the chassis together, but Robin Liddell knew the car did not feel right and did not feel safe.  Smart move.  In 2019, there was a photo finish that led them to win the race.  The team won in the rain here at Road America in 2019.  That was an amazing finish.  Poor old Kuno Wittmer had the win in his pocket and hit the pit lane speed limiter instead of cuing the radio.  Meanwhile, everyone is skating around on the track and er have drivers using their windscreen wipers.  But it is tire degration more than dampness on the road at this moment in time.

No one has made the jump to slick tires.  Could there be torrential rain?  Could there be a red flag?  Don’t overheat these tires though because then the tires could fail very easily.  Ryan Hardwick had drama through the kink, spinning and grazing the wall.  Wow!  That was a close one!  When you spin the car and hit the concrete barrier, your day is done and it is game over.  The car’s alignment looks OK if you eyeball it.  Road America creates opportunities because the track is so long.  Left front tire flat on the #51 Hyundai Veloster.  That is A.J. Muss in the Copeland Motorsports entry sharing with Mason Filippi.

The going is treacherous here at Road America.  Meanwhile, back up front, and the battle rages on between Patrick Gallagher, Dillon Machavern, and Russell Ward.  Aston Martin vs. BMW vs. Mercedes.  Through Canada Corner, poor old Muss is crawling back with the tire flailing.  You can hear it, whack, whack, whack, whack, against the bodywork.  Oh no.  He’s lost that tire.  It is gone.  It’s three wheels on my wagon for Muss, look.  That tire is now track debris.  The marshals will have to retrieve it and the fender is shearing itself off that secondhand motorcar as we speak. 

Porsche #16 is stopped dead stick on the road as well!  What could be the matter with Ryan Hardwick?  This is massive for the championship!  Patrick Gallagher continuing to lead.  This field is very deep.  Sheena Monk has dropped like a stone after troubles last time and now, Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen are stopped on the road.  Gamble and get that car into the lane.  Roll the dice, and speaking of rolling the dice there are several takers as Ted Giovannis hands the #64 Camaro to Owen Trinkler.  Pt stop time for Patrick Gallagher too, handing over to Stevan McAleer.  They have all the tools to win races.

BMW #95 in the lane and Bill Auberlen is back into the car replacing Dillon Machavern.  Four wet Michelin tires and a load of fuel.  Trent Hindman takes over from Alan Brynjolfsson in the #7 Volt Racing Aston Martin as well.  BMW #96 for Turner Motorsport is in the lane as well.  Vinny Barletta sharing with Robby Foley.  Pit stops continue as we have an hour and 15 minutes left on the board.  Atlanta Speedwerks, are in and out of pit lane after service and a driver change in TCR.  The TCR cars are pitting as the #16 Porsche is being towed back to the garage.  Under yellow, we have seen Michael McCann in the #8 McCann Racing Audi R8 GT4 take the race lead ahead of Tony Gaples in the #34 Black Dog Speed Shop McLaren.

Third now is Brent Mosing in the #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4.  Ryan Norman leads TCR ahead of Brian Henderson, Harry GAottsacker, and Gavin Ernstone.  So, it is Hyundai, Honda, Hyundai, Audi.  Atlanta Speedwerks Honda, the meat, in a Hyundai sandwich.  Ernstone in the Road Shagger Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR.  Time is of the essence.  An hour and ten minutes to go.  The track appears to be drying out, slowly.  Places are not completely bone dry yet.  But this is a four-mile circuit, so, some of it will be wet and other segments will be dry.

Ah.  McCann gives it up from the lead and heads for the lane for service.  He is likely to hand the car over and yes, co-driver Andrew Davis will take over.  This moves Indy Dontje in the #4 Winward Racing Mercedes back into the lead of the motor race.  Ryan Norman in the TCR Hyundai Elantra now runs second in the overall.  Dillon Machavern says he had a blast driving in the spray on his stint.  He seems to be very confident about how the race is going and Bill Auberlen is ready to drive the second stint and they ended up leapfrogging the Aston Martin and here’s the TCR pit stops.

Parker Chase will take over Hyundai #98 as Ryan Eversley has taken the wheel of the #94 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic TCR as well.  Some heavier rain is off to the west, but in 45 minutes, we could see some clearing.  By then, the race will conclude.  Try hard not to give up track position.  Where will Ryan Eversley cycle into the lineup when we go back to green flag racing?  We can see the rain puddling on the road somewhere on this vast circuit here at Road America.  Fsns are loving this racing but they will have to take shelter under their umbrellas today. 

Time to get back at it.  Here we go into the restart.  Indy Dontje leads Bill Auberlen and Stevan McAleer.  Mercedes, BMW, Aston Martin.  Auberlen screams around Dontje!  Wow!  He is on the move!  Here comes McAleer as well, look.  There’s not a driver in the field who knows the BMW like Bill Auberlen does, who knows their car the way he does and the #56 Mercedes AMG GT4 of Eric Foss loses grip and spins into turn five!  Yikes!  That was close.  Deep on the brakes, onto the paint, and he rotates!  He went to the ABS and the brakes are released so the car is not slowing as much as he’d like.  Jeepers creepers! 

Anything painted is going to be amazingly slick in the rain.  Ryan Eversley in the Honda is dropping like a stone!  He has a problem with that car.  Goodness me!  Less than an hour to go.  Tim Lewis Jr. in the Alfa Romeo lead TCR.  KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering, they have had a fast race car but haven’t had the results they wanted until finishing second in class at Lime Rock last time out.  The Honda, something is wrong with the handling.  It is very lively and maybe something broke in the rear end of the #94 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda.  He is scrambling with the handling.  Going into the corner, he is going to have trouble.

It sounds like he is experiencing lots of handling woes with the sway bar.  Tim Lewis Jr. and company feel that the fruits of their labor are starting to show.  Lewis Jr. says the car is handling extremely well as the rain is falling and the weather is becoming a factor.  Speed is not the issue for Alfa Romeo, but it is the reliability, the longevity of the automobile.  Tyler Maxson and Tyler Gonzalez, those two are pushing.  The Tyler and Tyler show, and Maxson won the title in SRO TCR racing last year.  In the wet, it is easier to follow someone to see how they are driving.  The race track in these conditions is really evolving.  Everyone is a guinea pig here.

Auberlen knows how quick Stevan McAleer is in the Aston Martin.  No trouble for Turner Motorsports from their most recent pit stop.  This is an angry handling Honda race car.  Ryan Eversley is screaming on the radio, “I need to come to pit lane!”  Road America is special because Ryan Eversley made his NASCAR Cup Series debut here at Road America last month on Independence Day.  Bill Auberlen is on a Saturday cruise, looking for another victory.  An all Mercedes battle ensues on track as we now see the Honda coming to pit lane and we are also watching the #34 Black Dog Speed Shop McLaren and the leading BMW M4 GT4 for Bill Auberlen and Turner Motorsports.

Car #18 is also running well, the CB Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 being shared by Trenton Estep and Mark Kvamme but things weren’t all wine and roses just a wee while ago as the car rotates on the whirligig through the grass!  It is back underway now.  A big scrap here, look, between the #4 Winward Racing Mercedes and the #57 sister car.  49 minutes left in the race.  The mist hangs in the air, the spray off the wet weather Michelin tires.  That is Alec Udell pressing his teammate Indy Dontje.  Udell was ahead just a moment ago.

Spencer Pigot in the #3 McLaren and then Trent Hindman in the #7 Aston Martin.  Ryan Eversely is in the lane fixing the car, the car he shares with Scott Smithson.  He is struggling on slick tires and needs wet tires.  Michael Lewis in the #77 Hyundai Veloster, he too, may also be running slick Michelin Pilot tires.  Lewis is a very talented driver.  Wow!  Look at the rain!  It is pouring again or will be pouring soon.  Lewis in the Hyundai is alive while Eversley did not have the side load or the temperature in his tires.  Goodness me.  It is like running on glass or on ice. 

Watching these cars race can be dizzying for fans and drivers alike and we saw the #18 get on a merry go round.  Check the scores with the judges for the Olympics as his rivals take evasive action.  Around, around, around, around, over, under, and through, for Trenton Estep.  He shares that car with Mark Kvamme.  Kvamme has run LMP3 cars, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, TCR here in Pilot Challenge and now, a leased Mercedes AMG GT4 in Grand Sport.  They hope to eventually run two cars.  Alec Udell tries Indy DAontje, no dice.  Here comes Tarent Hindman and then Scott Andrews, the Australian, in the #21 Toyota Supra, the Riley Motorsports car.

Andrews sharing with Anton Dias Perera.  They have their team car #14 as well with Javier Quiros and Alfredo Najri.  Hindman takes the gfight to DAONTJE AND Bill Auberlen is still whistling off into the distance.  This race is not over yet.  What will we see in terms of the championship points?  That’s another very valid question.  More cars and more battles on the road as we have a whole clump of cars battling for position in Grand Sport.  Hard to see anything but headlights through the downhill to turn five here as the spray is on the road and hanging as mist in the air with all the lovely trees and forests here in the Kettle moraine. 

Uh oh!  The #13 AWA McLaren of Kuno Wittmer spins into the grass at the final turn, turn 14.  Kuno Wittmer escapes the grass far better than yours truly would escape the sand trap as a bad golfer.  So, Wittmer is back on the road, pushing.  He cannot believe that he spun out.  The rain is thickening.  The skies have opened.  Calm down, Kuno.  Keep running your race, sunshine.  Indy Dontje is really motoring.  Their best finish at this track is seventh and Dontje has his hands full with Trent Hindman and Scott Andrews too.  Andrews is extremely fast who won LMP3 at the Rolex 24.  Oh no!  Contact and Andrews is pushed wide by Dontje after he clips the Benz!

Andrews is slow.  There is a piece of debris on the road.  Andres out of the draft, Dontje sets up for the turn, and, crunch!  What will the marshals have to say about that little shemozzle?  The visibility is becoming horrid.  We check in with Chad McCumbee in the #40 PF Racing Ford Mustang with that fabulous sounding Coyote Ford V8 under the bonnet.  He and co-driver James Pesek have been running really in a good spot.  Paddle shifting on that Mustang makes driving the car much easier.  He has a SAAC Shelby Mustang as well and he played Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the “3” Dale Earnhardt biopic movie.

Scott Andrews apologizes to his pit crew.  He is coming into the pit lane and the left front is busted.  He says “I’m so, so sorry, lads.”  The track rod and the steering are bent out of shape.  Game over.  He could have chased Spencer Pigot in the #3 MIA McLaren.  Bill Auberlen stretches his margin over Stevan McAleer.  Andrews moved to the left and there was usre argy bargy between the two cars and the right front took the hit, busting the suspension to pieces.  After the #16 Porsche parked in Canada Corner, the tie has been broken if the Turner Motorsports BMW boys end up winning this motor race and they will gain 260 points going into the next race.

#95 have been really consistent here in 2021 with Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern.  Hyundai #77 runs wide in turn five and this is Michael Lewis taking the car to the end of the event so we believe Taylor Hagler, she has already run her stint in this race as Lewis has to dance on the throttle in these greasy, slippery, wet conditions.  The windscreen of that Hyundai streaked with water and oil and other detritus.  Tim Lewis Jr. in the #5 Alfa Romeo leads TCR but has #98 Parker Chase really applying the blowtorch.

The rain intensity is picking up and so is the racing intensity.  Here comes Parker Chase on the outside in The Carousel and tup to the Kink!  Wow!  That rimshot through the Carousel is where the grip is.  Wowzers!  Parker Chase has found the rain line and it shows in his lap times.  He has great car control even in the wet so he won’t knacker his tires.  Mark Wlkins and Harry Gottsacker are next up in the sister #33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra.  That is Mark Wilkins, not Harry Gottsacker.  They started mid pack.  The Alfa Romeo is the meat in the sandwich between two Hyundai’s. 

Massive commitment by Parker Chase through the Carousel.  He has taken off like a scalded cat.  The Alfa team are a little tight on fuel and Mark Wlkins has been all over him like a cheap suit.  Trouble for the #23 Aston!  Flat left rear tire for Stevan McAleer!  Oh no!  This will hurt them for sure.  Slow down.  Don’t hit the fender and the brake lines.  He will top up on gas too.  He could come back but time is of the essence.  Who has the petrol to make it to the finish?  Who has the tires that are good and not knackered?  Stay tuned.  This motor race is far from over.  I’ve said it once and will say it again.  Michelin Pilot Challenge at Road America.  Hot stuff!  #77 in the lane for service.  This is the Hyundai, the Veloster three door hatchback.  Notlad in the lane changing the dud left rear Michelin.

They are serviced and sent.  As we ride aboard the Hyundai again, we can see the track here at Road America is wetter than an otter’s pocket.  20 minutes to go, mate.  Push it, push it.  OK.  OK.  I’ll push it!  The third-place scrap in GS is hot too!  Trent Hindman has it and Alec Udell wants it.  This is the race for the final podium spot.  Turner Motorsports and Bill Auberlen lead by 16 seconds over Spencer Pigot in the McLaren, and they might be tight on their fuel load.  More drivers are burning off the petrol with such a short time to go.  The rainy conditions are iffy.  So is the fuel.

The Full Course Yellow is going to be a saving grace for many if we get one.  Udell makes his move on Hindman.  A racing driver, they push themselves and make themselves uncomfortable from time to time.  Again, motor racing is not always wine and roses.  Spencer Pigot might also be short on petrol.  Whoa!  Hyundai #98 off and on, Parker Chase, class leader in TCR!  Yikes!  The rain is coming down harder and harder.  It is tipping down!  The visibility is getting worse.  Last year in the WeatherTech race we had similar conditions with undrivable, blinding rain. 

Tim Lewis Jr. has come alive in the #5 Alfa Romeo and so has Michael Lewis (no relation), in the #77 Hyundai Veloster.  This race is not done yet.  The #34 McLaren runs wide at turn five, the Cooper/Gaples entry.  With today’s rain, we can only wonder what the weather forecast for the WeatherTech Championship event tomorrow will look like.  Will we have rain?  Will we have blue skies and sunshine?  Tim Lewis Jr. resumes in the lead of TCR, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.  They ran second last time out at Lime Rock Park.  Can they win today at Road America with 12 minutes to go? 

His biggest issue is fuel.  Dennis Dupont is chasing down Mark Wilkins in the #33 Hyundai Elantra.  Just over ten minutes to go now.  Bill Auberlen is fuel saving and Spencer Pigot is coming in a hurry.  Another spot of bother for the #18 Mercedes and also the #46 TGM Chevrolet Camaro of Matt Plumb!  Deary me.  Trenton Estepp will get back on track as Spencer Pigot is in the lane for a splash and a dash.  Udell and Dontje in the AMG Mercedes’ move up but Alec Udell also needs a splash of gas.  #18 rotates on the wet grass in the Carousel and Matt Plumb, thud, right into the wall out of the Kink, and he had a head of steam, washing out wide, and thud, into the Armco.

Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern, it is going to be squeaky, squeaky time on the fuel here.  Turner Motorsports strategist Don “The Ice Man” Salama, looking on.  Do the math and see where you are with just a short time to go.  15 seconds in the bag for Auberlen running laps in the 2:37 range.  Can he slow down enough and not run out of gas?  He will hit it right on the nose, perhaps.  He has three laps, 12 miles to go and we have just about six minutes left.  Goodness.  The drama is high here.  He will have to slow it down to three-minute laps and slow 20 seconds a lap with a 15 second cushion.  There is going to be at least two laps to go.

If Indy Dontje and Alec Udell have to pit, they are good, but uphill on the straight out of turn 14, out of Canada Corner, it is tough.  Alec Udell does not care about the championship and wants to win the race.  Ditto for Indy Dontje.  Will these blokes be in the catbird seat?  Auberlen leads by almost 15 seconds.  Spencer Pigot and McLaren had to blink.  How about Chad McCumbee?  What about Robby Foley in the sister Turner Motorsports BMW?  Tim Lewis Jr. might be a tad shy on gas as well.  Mark Wilkins is home and hosed over Dennis Dupont.  This will be down to the wire.  Alec Udell is low on gas. This is a fuel mileage race sliding off turn one for Bill Auberlen. 

Downhill, it is all coasting.  Jon Morley in the #61 Audi RS 3 LMS TCR runs wide in turn five, the Road Shagger Racing car.  Five drivers within fifty points in the championship coming into this race.  Will they stretch the fuel?  Will they dive to the lane?  Auberlen stays out.  Turner Motorsports will gamble.  Four miles to go.  One lap more.  Will he throw the rope?  Coast on the downhill runs.  He leads by 15 seconds and has to run slower than the TCR’s.  Is the car coughing and sputtering?  He is still coasting through 20 stories of elevation change in one lap here at Road America.

Flat to turn seven and downhill to turn eight, coasting.  Auberlen is a great driver and a keen engineer.  He will be able to squeeze fuel.  Run a taller gear in the rain.  Through the Carousel once more.  He has not reached for the reserve tank.  Wait.  Now, he does.  He has to be cautious not to get run over.  The team are anxious.  It is nail biting time.  Final lap of the motor race.  Uphill to the start/finish line.  He is not home and hosed yet.  But will he be?  Auberlen and Machavern win their second race of the 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge season!  Wow!  Second repeat winner of the year.

In TCR, Tim Lewis Jr. has most of the lap to go, half of the lap and he has fuel starvation trouble, perhaps.  He has to be careful.  Mark Wilkins and Dennis Dupont are the hungry wolves chasing him.  Will Lewis Jr. have the fuel?  They are in it to win it, through the Carousel.  Wilkins and Dupont want to see the car stumble and Wilkins is out of gas, slowing in the mist!  Dupont is coming.  What does he have left in the locker?  Here comes the mountain of the front straightaway.  Can Lewis take his first Michelin Pilot win?

Yes!  The Alfa Romeo makes it.  Alfa Romeo win!  Tim Lewis Jr. and Roy Block win TCR!

Overall/Grand Sport: #96 Auberlen/Foley     Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4

              TCR: #5 Lewis Jr./Block                  KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering 

                                                                        Alfa Romeo Giulietta

This was a wonderful race to watch!  Next up for Michelin Pilot Challenge will be the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championships at Laguna Seca Raceway on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, California, coming up next month.  So long for now, everyone, from Road America.  Excited for tomorrow and the WeatherTech Championship race.

 

                    

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